Lachenburg
16-03-2007, 18:16
The Kingdom of South Africa
Koninkryk van Suid-Afrika
iRiphabliki yaseNingizimu Afrika
Ex Unitate Vires!
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/z/za)old.jpg
Brief Historical Backround:
An Excerpt from Wikipedia Online Encyclopaedia
The written history of South Africa begins with the accounts of European navigators passing South Africa on the East Indies trade routes. The first European navigator to achieve circumnavigation of the Cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488.
When Bartolomeu Dias returned to Lisbon he carried news of this discovery he called "Cabo das Tormentas" (cape of storms). But for his sponsor, Henry the Navigator, chose a different name, "Cabo da Boa Esperança" Cape of Good Hope for it promised a sea route to the riches of India, which was eagerly anticipated in Portugal.
Along with the accounts of the early navigators, the accounts of shipwreck survivors provide the earliest written accounts of Southern Africa. In the two centuries following 1488, a number of small fishing settlements were made along the coast by Portuguese sailors, but no written account of these settlements survives. In 1652 a victualling station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the slowly-expanding settlement was a Dutch possession. The Dutch settlers eventually met the southwesterly expanding Xhosa people in the region of the Fish River. A series of wars, called Cape Frontier Wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests.
Great Britain seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1797 seeking to use Cape Town in particular as a stop on the route to Australia and India. The Dutch East India Company declared bankruptcy, and the British annexed the Cape Colony in 1805. The British continued the frontier wars against the AmaXhosa, pushing the eastern frontier eastward through a line of forts established along the Fish River and consolidating it by encouraging British settlement. Due to pressure of abolitionist societies in Britain, the British parliament first stopped its global slave trade in 1806, then abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833.
The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying the subjugation of the natives. The Boers successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, much better suited to local conditions. However, the British returned in greater numbers without their red jackets in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The Boers' attempt to ally themselves with German South West Africa provided the British with yet another excuse to take control of the Boer Republics.
The Boers resisted fiercely, but the British eventually overwhelmed the Boer forces, using their superior numbers, improved tactics and external supply chains. The Treaty of Vereeniging specified full British sovereignty over the South African republics, and the British government agreed to assume the £3,000,000 war debt owed by the Afrikaner governments. One of the main provisions of the treaty ending the war was that 'Blacks' would not be allowed to vote, except in the Cape Colony.
After four years of negotiations, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape and Natal colonies, as well as the republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, on May 31, 1910, exactly eight years after the end of the Second Boer War. The newly-created Union of South Africa was a dominion.
On December 11th, 1936, King Edward VIII, upon proposing marriage to American divorcée Wallis Simpson, created a constitutional crisis within the British Empire and, at the behest of the Prime Minister and his cabinet, formally abdicated the crown in favor of his younger brother Albert. Although the majority of the Empire submitted to the decision, South Africa refused, its leaders citing the move as purely of political nature and having no bearing upon the inclinations of the Union or its citizens. Of course, it was expected that the puny, back-water Dominion would be swiftly dealt a harsh series of reprucussions by London; however, in light of the growing tensions between Great Britain and Nazi Germany, Parliament quietly obliged. As of January 1st, 1937, although retaining its status within the Commonwealth, South Africa became an independent Kingdom.
In 1948, the National Party was elected to power, and began implementing a series of harsh segregationist laws that would become known collectively as apartheid. Not surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, often comparable to "First World" western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. However, the average income and life expectancy of a black, 'Indian' or 'coloured' South African compared favourably to many other African states, such as Ghana and Tanzania.
Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread sanctions and divestment abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other left-wing political organisations, and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed from the statute books, and the first multi-racial elections were held in 1994. The ANC won by an overwhelming majority and kept its' stranglehold over the national government well into the next century.
Despite the end of apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continue to live in poverty. This is partly attributed to the legacy of the apartheid system, as well as the catastrophic effects of the AIDS pandemic which has devestated the African continent. Fortunantley, the government, first under ANC and later Democratic Alliance (DA) directive, has begun to take steps to address such problems and, as a result, poverty, unemployment, and the annual rate of HIV infection have dropped steadily since the beginning of the 21st Century.
Nevertheless, it is still a long road ahead before the Kingdom and its subjects will finally be able to cast away the chains of repression from previous eras and enter a new enlightened age.
Population Statistics:
Federal Census (1905): 47,432,000 citizens
Official Language(s): English, Afrikaans, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa
Official Religion: Dutch Reformed Church
Predominant Religious Groups: Zion Christianity, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Roman Catholicism, Methodist, Dutch Reformed, Anglican, Islam, Pagan/Tribal Religions
Predominant Ethnic Groups: Caucasian, Black African, Coloured, Indian, Asian
Political Orginization:
Country Name:
Official Title: The Kingdom of South Africa
Conventional/Legal: South Africa
Political System: Constitutional Monarchy
Seat of Power:
Executive: Pretoria, Gauteng
Legislative: Cape Town, Western Cape
Judicial: Bloemfontein, Free State
Constitution(s): Constitution of South Africa [ratified 1996]
Legislature: Federal Parliament
Legal System: English Common Law
Head of State: His Royal Majesty Richard I, King of South Africa
Head of Government: The Right Honorable Tony Leon, Prime Minister of South Africa [DA]
Foreign Minister: The Honorable Marthinus van Schalkwyk
National Flag:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/South_Africa_Red_Ensign.png
The South African 'Red Ensign'
Administrative Divisions: (http://www.roomsforafrica.com/accommodation-images/south-africa.gif)
Provinces:
- Eastern Cape
- Free State
- Gauteng
- Limpopo
- Mpumalanga
- Natal
- Northern Cape
- Northwest
- Western Cape
Dependencies:
- Walvis Bay
[B]Economics & Finances:
Central Bank: South African Reserve Bank
Foreign Exchange Reserves: $20.16 Billion
Currency: South African Rand (ZAR)
Exchange Rate: 7.47 ZAR = 1 USD [Free-Floating Exchange Rate]
Denominations: R10, R20, R50, R100, R200
Subunit: Cent [1/100]
Stock Exchange: JSE Securities Exchange [Johannesburg, Gauteng]
GDP: $576.4 Billion
GDP per captia: $13,000
Annual GDP Growth: 4.5%
Labour Force: 16.09 Million
Unemployment Rate: 25.5%
Inflation: 5.8%
Population Below Poverty Line: 50%
Fiscal Budget:
Revenues: $72.15 Billion
Expenditures: $75.93 Billion
Defense: $3.5 Billion
Merchant Marine: 3 vessels [1 Container, 2 Petroleum Tankers]
Industries: Mining, Automobile assembly, Metalworking, Machinery, Textiles, Iron and Steel, Chemicals, Fertilizer, Foodstuffs, Commercial ship repair
Primary Exports: Gold, Diamonds, Platinum, Chromium, other metals and minerals, Machinery and equipment
Primary Imports: Machinery and equipment, Chemicals, Petroleum products, Scientific instruments, Foodstuffs
National Defense:
South African National Defense Force:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/SANDF_emblem.jpg
Commander-In-Chief: His Royal Majesty King Richard I
Minister of Defense: The Honourable Mosiuoa Lekota
Commanding Officer: General Godfrey Ngwenya
Military Age: 18-49 years old
Availability: 20,981,319 citizens
Reaching military age annually: 1,018,485 citizens
Manpower fit for military service: 9,536,828 citizens
Current Numbers:
Officers & Enlisted: 55,750 Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen
Method of Recruitment: Volunteer recruitment
Organization:
South African Army:
- South African Armoured Corps [1 Active Regiment; 7 Reserve]
- South African Infantry Corps [8 Active Regiments; 18 Reserve]
- South African Artillery Corps [2 Active Regiments; 11 Reserve]
- South African Engineering Corps [6 Active Regiments; 3 Reserve]
South African Air Force:
- South African Military Air Group [16 Squadrons]
South African Navy:
- South African Blue Water Fleet
National Arsenal: Pretoria, Gauteng
Naval Bases: Cape Town, Western Cape; East London, Eastern Cape; Durban, Natal; Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
Military Academies:
Ranks:
Officers:
- General
- Lieutenant General
- Major General
- Brigadier General
- Colonel
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- Second Lieutenant
- Cadet Officer
Non-Commisioned Officers:
- Warrant Officer of the SADF
- Sergeant Major of the Army
- Sergeant Major [Group]/Warrant Officer Class 1
- Sergeant Major [Regimental]/Warrant Officer Class 2
- Staff Sergeant
- Sergeant
Enlisted:
- Corporal
- Lance Corporal
Koninkryk van Suid-Afrika
iRiphabliki yaseNingizimu Afrika
Ex Unitate Vires!
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/z/za)old.jpg
Brief Historical Backround:
An Excerpt from Wikipedia Online Encyclopaedia
The written history of South Africa begins with the accounts of European navigators passing South Africa on the East Indies trade routes. The first European navigator to achieve circumnavigation of the Cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488.
When Bartolomeu Dias returned to Lisbon he carried news of this discovery he called "Cabo das Tormentas" (cape of storms). But for his sponsor, Henry the Navigator, chose a different name, "Cabo da Boa Esperança" Cape of Good Hope for it promised a sea route to the riches of India, which was eagerly anticipated in Portugal.
Along with the accounts of the early navigators, the accounts of shipwreck survivors provide the earliest written accounts of Southern Africa. In the two centuries following 1488, a number of small fishing settlements were made along the coast by Portuguese sailors, but no written account of these settlements survives. In 1652 a victualling station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the slowly-expanding settlement was a Dutch possession. The Dutch settlers eventually met the southwesterly expanding Xhosa people in the region of the Fish River. A series of wars, called Cape Frontier Wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests.
Great Britain seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1797 seeking to use Cape Town in particular as a stop on the route to Australia and India. The Dutch East India Company declared bankruptcy, and the British annexed the Cape Colony in 1805. The British continued the frontier wars against the AmaXhosa, pushing the eastern frontier eastward through a line of forts established along the Fish River and consolidating it by encouraging British settlement. Due to pressure of abolitionist societies in Britain, the British parliament first stopped its global slave trade in 1806, then abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833.
The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying the subjugation of the natives. The Boers successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, much better suited to local conditions. However, the British returned in greater numbers without their red jackets in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The Boers' attempt to ally themselves with German South West Africa provided the British with yet another excuse to take control of the Boer Republics.
The Boers resisted fiercely, but the British eventually overwhelmed the Boer forces, using their superior numbers, improved tactics and external supply chains. The Treaty of Vereeniging specified full British sovereignty over the South African republics, and the British government agreed to assume the £3,000,000 war debt owed by the Afrikaner governments. One of the main provisions of the treaty ending the war was that 'Blacks' would not be allowed to vote, except in the Cape Colony.
After four years of negotiations, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape and Natal colonies, as well as the republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, on May 31, 1910, exactly eight years after the end of the Second Boer War. The newly-created Union of South Africa was a dominion.
On December 11th, 1936, King Edward VIII, upon proposing marriage to American divorcée Wallis Simpson, created a constitutional crisis within the British Empire and, at the behest of the Prime Minister and his cabinet, formally abdicated the crown in favor of his younger brother Albert. Although the majority of the Empire submitted to the decision, South Africa refused, its leaders citing the move as purely of political nature and having no bearing upon the inclinations of the Union or its citizens. Of course, it was expected that the puny, back-water Dominion would be swiftly dealt a harsh series of reprucussions by London; however, in light of the growing tensions between Great Britain and Nazi Germany, Parliament quietly obliged. As of January 1st, 1937, although retaining its status within the Commonwealth, South Africa became an independent Kingdom.
In 1948, the National Party was elected to power, and began implementing a series of harsh segregationist laws that would become known collectively as apartheid. Not surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, often comparable to "First World" western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. However, the average income and life expectancy of a black, 'Indian' or 'coloured' South African compared favourably to many other African states, such as Ghana and Tanzania.
Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread sanctions and divestment abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other left-wing political organisations, and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed from the statute books, and the first multi-racial elections were held in 1994. The ANC won by an overwhelming majority and kept its' stranglehold over the national government well into the next century.
Despite the end of apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continue to live in poverty. This is partly attributed to the legacy of the apartheid system, as well as the catastrophic effects of the AIDS pandemic which has devestated the African continent. Fortunantley, the government, first under ANC and later Democratic Alliance (DA) directive, has begun to take steps to address such problems and, as a result, poverty, unemployment, and the annual rate of HIV infection have dropped steadily since the beginning of the 21st Century.
Nevertheless, it is still a long road ahead before the Kingdom and its subjects will finally be able to cast away the chains of repression from previous eras and enter a new enlightened age.
Population Statistics:
Federal Census (1905): 47,432,000 citizens
Official Language(s): English, Afrikaans, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa
Official Religion: Dutch Reformed Church
Predominant Religious Groups: Zion Christianity, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Roman Catholicism, Methodist, Dutch Reformed, Anglican, Islam, Pagan/Tribal Religions
Predominant Ethnic Groups: Caucasian, Black African, Coloured, Indian, Asian
Political Orginization:
Country Name:
Official Title: The Kingdom of South Africa
Conventional/Legal: South Africa
Political System: Constitutional Monarchy
Seat of Power:
Executive: Pretoria, Gauteng
Legislative: Cape Town, Western Cape
Judicial: Bloemfontein, Free State
Constitution(s): Constitution of South Africa [ratified 1996]
Legislature: Federal Parliament
Legal System: English Common Law
Head of State: His Royal Majesty Richard I, King of South Africa
Head of Government: The Right Honorable Tony Leon, Prime Minister of South Africa [DA]
Foreign Minister: The Honorable Marthinus van Schalkwyk
National Flag:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/South_Africa_Red_Ensign.png
The South African 'Red Ensign'
Administrative Divisions: (http://www.roomsforafrica.com/accommodation-images/south-africa.gif)
Provinces:
- Eastern Cape
- Free State
- Gauteng
- Limpopo
- Mpumalanga
- Natal
- Northern Cape
- Northwest
- Western Cape
Dependencies:
- Walvis Bay
[B]Economics & Finances:
Central Bank: South African Reserve Bank
Foreign Exchange Reserves: $20.16 Billion
Currency: South African Rand (ZAR)
Exchange Rate: 7.47 ZAR = 1 USD [Free-Floating Exchange Rate]
Denominations: R10, R20, R50, R100, R200
Subunit: Cent [1/100]
Stock Exchange: JSE Securities Exchange [Johannesburg, Gauteng]
GDP: $576.4 Billion
GDP per captia: $13,000
Annual GDP Growth: 4.5%
Labour Force: 16.09 Million
Unemployment Rate: 25.5%
Inflation: 5.8%
Population Below Poverty Line: 50%
Fiscal Budget:
Revenues: $72.15 Billion
Expenditures: $75.93 Billion
Defense: $3.5 Billion
Merchant Marine: 3 vessels [1 Container, 2 Petroleum Tankers]
Industries: Mining, Automobile assembly, Metalworking, Machinery, Textiles, Iron and Steel, Chemicals, Fertilizer, Foodstuffs, Commercial ship repair
Primary Exports: Gold, Diamonds, Platinum, Chromium, other metals and minerals, Machinery and equipment
Primary Imports: Machinery and equipment, Chemicals, Petroleum products, Scientific instruments, Foodstuffs
National Defense:
South African National Defense Force:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/SANDF_emblem.jpg
Commander-In-Chief: His Royal Majesty King Richard I
Minister of Defense: The Honourable Mosiuoa Lekota
Commanding Officer: General Godfrey Ngwenya
Military Age: 18-49 years old
Availability: 20,981,319 citizens
Reaching military age annually: 1,018,485 citizens
Manpower fit for military service: 9,536,828 citizens
Current Numbers:
Officers & Enlisted: 55,750 Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen
Method of Recruitment: Volunteer recruitment
Organization:
South African Army:
- South African Armoured Corps [1 Active Regiment; 7 Reserve]
- South African Infantry Corps [8 Active Regiments; 18 Reserve]
- South African Artillery Corps [2 Active Regiments; 11 Reserve]
- South African Engineering Corps [6 Active Regiments; 3 Reserve]
South African Air Force:
- South African Military Air Group [16 Squadrons]
South African Navy:
- South African Blue Water Fleet
National Arsenal: Pretoria, Gauteng
Naval Bases: Cape Town, Western Cape; East London, Eastern Cape; Durban, Natal; Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
Military Academies:
Ranks:
Officers:
- General
- Lieutenant General
- Major General
- Brigadier General
- Colonel
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- Second Lieutenant
- Cadet Officer
Non-Commisioned Officers:
- Warrant Officer of the SADF
- Sergeant Major of the Army
- Sergeant Major [Group]/Warrant Officer Class 1
- Sergeant Major [Regimental]/Warrant Officer Class 2
- Staff Sergeant
- Sergeant
Enlisted:
- Corporal
- Lance Corporal